Options Trading News

One investor Dolby Laboratories will move when it reports earnings this week.

optionMONSTER's Heat Seeker monitoring program detected the purchase of 5,500 December 40 calls for $0.60. Volume was more than 8 times open interest at the strike, indicating that new money was put to work.

A large block of shares in the audio company was sold minutes later, indicating the use of a so-called delta-neutral strategy. Because the trader is long calls and short stock, he or she is now agnostic on the direction of the shares.

Instead of making money from a rally, the position will profit from volatility spiking higher. (See our Education section for more on how to make money from stocks moving sharply in either direction.)

DLB rose 2.17 percent to $34.84 yesterday and is up almost 12 percent in the last week. Although the stock has been lifting recently from long-term support around $30, it's still down by about 50 percent from its levels at the beginning of last year. Earnings come out tomorrow afternoon.

Short interest is also 15 percent of the float, which could potentially fuel movement in the share price.

Overall option volume was 16 times greater than average in the session, with calls outnumbering puts by 64 to 1.

So far, my articles have taken you through a logical progression of option theory and fundamental concepts of options. As of yet, I have not mentioned a single strategy and for a good reason! The actual application of a strategy should come AFTER you learn about the option product itself.

optionMONSTER® provides stock market insight, advanced options education, and actionable trade ideas to meet the needs of do-it-yourself investors. After spending decades in the trading pits of Chicago, Jon 'DRJ' and Pete Najarian founded the company in 2005 to help people better manage their own investment portfolios.

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